Student leaders concerned about access to post-secondary education

FREDERICTON (CUP) — The president of the New Brunswick Student Alliance is concerned that the government’s plan to reintroduce parental contributions in student loan assessments will make university less accessible.

Samuel Gregg-Wallace said in an interview Friday that basing loans on what a student’s family earns assumes those families can afford — or are willing — to pay into their child’s education in the first place.

“It automatically assumes that parents will contribute to their son’s or daughter’s education when the reality is that 40 per cent of students in Canada don’t receive financial support from their parents,” he said.

The NBSA is a provincial lobby ground that represents students’ unions in New Brunswick.

The Alward government expects it will save $1.6 million by counting parental contributions on provincial student loans.

Tuition will also be allowed to increase by $200 next school year, ending three consecutive years of a freeze on tuition fees in the province.

New Brunswick has the second highest tuition fees in the country, according to Statistics Canada.

Ella Henry, president of the students’ union at St. Thomas University, says that while $200 doesn’t sound like a lot money, for students struggling to make ends meet, it can mean choosing between paying rent or buying groceries.

“For a lot of students, it’s more than they spend on groceries in a month,” Henry said.

She said she’s aware of St. Thomas students who already work full-time jobs, in addition to having loans, to support themselves, adding the budget announcement on the whole was not particularly good for students.

But it wasn’t all bad news for post-secondary education.

Universities will receive a 2 per cent increase in funding for operating budgets, and the government did commit to targeted grants for low-income students, though the details weren’t specified.

Gregg-Wallace said he expects those details to emerge within a month.

“That commitment is important to us,” he said. “So I would support any increase in targeted grants.”

Shannon Carmont-McKinley, president of the University of New Brunswick students’ union, said in a news release that the decision to raise tuition and reintroduce parental contributions into student loan assessments will make it harder for all students to access post-secondary education.

“One of our biggest concerns is access to our post-secondary education system,” said Carmont-McKinley. “These changes not only increase the cost for students, but reduce their ability to access loans through which to fund their education.

“This is an unfortunate step backwards for students.”